A slow moving cold front pushed across the Missouri Bootheel during the afternoon of March 8, 2012. Showers and a few thunderstorms developed along and behind the front dumping a couple inches of rain across the area.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS MEG wrote it up.
A slow moving cold front pushed across the Missouri Bootheel during the afternoon of March 8, 2012. Showers and a few thunderstorms developed along and behind the front dumping a couple inches of rain across the area. Isolated flash flooding occurred as a result of the heavy rain.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 8, 3:30 PM CST, 2 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 330 PM CST THU MAR 8 2012 .DISCUSSION...20Z SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACES A COLD FRONT FROM SAVANNAH TENNESSEE BACK TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF ARKANSAS. REGIONAL WSR-88D RADAR TRENDS HAVE SHOWN A MAJORITY IF NOT ALL OF THE SHOWER/THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY BEING LOCATED BEHIND THE COLD FRONT AND ELEVATED IN NATURE DUE TO THE MOSTLY CLOUDY TO CLOUDY SKIES AND SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY NEARLY NON-EXISTENT. SHORT TERM HEAVY RAINFALL POTENTIAL FOR LATE THIS WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK IS THE MAIN CHALLENGE IN THIS AFTERNOON/S FORECAST. .SHORT TERM...(TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT)...A COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY MOVE THROUGH THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND A FEW ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE MID SOUTH TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY SOUTH OF I-40. HOWEVER...CONFIDENCE REMAINS LOW WITH RESPECT TO FLOODING/FLASH FLOODING DUE TO CONVECTIVE TRENDS THROUGHOUT TODAY. SHORT TERM MODELS INDICATE SURFACE AND SHORTWAVE UPPER LEVEL RIDGING WILL BRING RAIN FREE WEATHER ACROSS THE MID SOUTH FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. SURFACE AND UPPER LEVEL RIDGING WILL MOVE EAST SATURDAY NIGHT AS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW AND AREA OF LOW PRESSURE MOVE FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS INTO THE MIDDLE/UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY FOR SUNDAY INTO MONDAY...BRINGING ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BACK TO THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. LATEST MODEL RUNS INDICATE SOMEWHAT LESS RAINFALL POTENTIAL THAN PREVIOUS MODEL RUNS. DUE TO LOWER CONFIDENCE WILL LET THE CURRENT HYDROLOGIC OUTLOOK /ESF/ EXPIRE THIS AFTERNOON...AND LET EVENING/MIDNIGHT SHIFTS REASSESS FLOODING/FLASH FLOODING POTENTIAL FOR LATE THIS WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AFTER THE 00Z MODEL RUN ARRIVES. .LONG TERM...(TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY)...12Z GFS/ECMWF LONG TERM MODELS INDICATE A SURFACE BOUNDARY WILL REMAIN QUASI-STATIONARY ACROSS THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THROUGH EARLY TO MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. THUS...HAVE CARRIED LOW END POPS AND MAY NEED TO RAISE UPWARD ACCORDINGLY IF THIS SCENARIO UNFOLDS. && .AVIATION... 18Z TAF CYCLE A COLD FRONT IS MOVING ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH. IT HAS ALREADY PASSED THROUGH JBR AND SHOULD MOVE THROUGH MEM AND MKL AROUND 19-20Z. WINDS WILL SHIFT ABRUPTLY WITH ITS PASSAGE...FROM THE NORTH AROUND 15 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 25-30. HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL ACCOMPANY THE FRONT...LIKELY PRECEDING IT BY AN HOUR OR SO. STEADY RAIN AND POSSIBLY THUNDER WILL CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS AFTER ITS PASSAGE. VISIBILITY WILL LIKELY BE REDUCED AS LOW AS 1SM AT TIMES IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE HEAVIEST STORMS. CIGS WILL FALL BELOW 1000 FEET AS THE FRONT PASSES...THEN GRADUALLY RISE STARTING 2-3 HOURS AFTER PASSAGE. FROPA NEAR TUP AROUND 01Z. NORTHERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT INTO TOMORROW. CIGS WILL IMPROVE AFTER MIDNIGHT. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MEM 40 56 38 66 / 100 20 0 10 MKL 39 57 32 66 / 90 10 0 0 JBR 39 57 36 59 / 90 10 0 10 TUP 44 56 35 67 / 100 40 10 0 && .MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...NONE. MO...NONE. MS...NONE. TN...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 331 PM CST THU MAR 8 2012 ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115- MSZ001>017-020>024-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>055-088>092-091145- ALCORN-BENTON MS-CALHOUN-CARROLL-CHESTER-CHICKASAW-CLAY-COAHOMA- CRAIGHEAD-CRITTENDEN-CROCKETT-CROSS-DESOTO-DECATUR-DUNKLIN-DYER- FAYETTE-GIBSON-GREENE-HARDEMAN-HARDIN-HAYWOOD-HENDERSON-HENRY- ITAWAMBA-LAFAYETTE-LAKE-LAUDERDALE-LAWRENCE-LEE AR-LEE MS-MADISON- MARSHALL-MCNAIRY-MISSISSIPPI-MONROE-OBION-PANOLA-PEMISCOT- PHILLIPS-POINSETT-PONTOTOC-PRENTISS-QUITMAN-RANDOLPH-SHELBY- ST. FRANCIS-TALLAHATCHIE-TATE-TIPPAH-TIPTON-TISHOMINGO-TUNICA- UNION-WEAKLEY-YALOBUSHA- 331 PM CST THU MAR 8 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST ARKANSAS... THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL...NORTH MISSISSIPPI...AND WEST TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
514 PM CST THU MAR 08 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0301 PM FLASH FLOOD 2 N BONO 35.94N 90.80W
03/08/2012 CRAIGHEAD AR EMERGENCY MNGR
COUNTY ROAD 328 IS IMPASSIBLE.
0459 PM FLOOD 3 S LAKE CITY 35.78N 90.45W
03/08/2012 CRAIGHEAD AR FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
ROAD NEAR COUNTY ROAD 815 AND 816 WASHED AWAY.
&&
TLSPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
525 PM CST THU MAR 08 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0459 PM FLOOD 3 S LAKE CITY 35.78N 90.45W
03/08/2012 CRAIGHEAD AR FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
ROAD NEAR COUNTY ROAD 815 AND 816 WASHED AWAY.
0500 PM TSTM WND DMG TILLATOBA 33.98N 89.90W
03/08/2012 YALOBUSHA MS EMERGENCY MNGR
TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN. ROOFS OFF HOMES.
&&
ZEIThe Memphis radar (KNQA), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:31 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rain caused flash flooding near Caruthersville. A vehicle was stranded in high water on County Road 362.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, March 2012
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 370019.